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Book Reviews
Stephan
Alter's
Amritsar To
Lahore
 A journey that crosses the border dividing India and Pakistan surely offers a
traveler more inspiration than is necessary for penning a routine travelogue. Stephen Alter had that opportunity but, after reading the outcome, Amritsar to Lahore, it appears that the inspiration remained sadly underutilized. Worse, it was used to make some shallow conclusions. Even then, the book needs to be read because it is an addition to the increasing bulk of literature - direct and indirect - on the Partition. In some way, it does address the dilemma of people on both sides of the fence. And the good thing is, the strange conclusions that the author arrives are limited to a few and do not mar the brightness of the book.
What strikes the reader most on reading Amritsar to Lahore is the enormous goodness of people on both sides of the border. The average class of citizen of both countries would like to live in peace and harmony and believes that self-serving politicians are primary obstacles to peace. Everybody loves Hindi films; the lay Pakistani cares two hoots for the laws that ban Hindi films to be screened in his country. Hindi films are easily available on cassettes with Urdu/Arabic sub-titles, although this happens to be absolutely unnecessary as the Pakistani is very much at home with the Hindustani spoken in Hindi films. All would like for the day to arrive when movement of people across the border would be easy, even unrestricted. The streets, markets, traffic, landscape… everything is so same on both the sides
Of course, that does not blur the individuality of Pakistan. As Alter narrates, we get the picture of a very different country with very strong and defined views on matters that are contentious to both India and Pakistan. Those opinions are in sharp contrast to that held in India. Nevertheless, these contrary positions seek to also highlight the commonality that exists between the two peoples.
Alter has based a major portion of his travelogue on conversations with people from both sides and his own personal experiences. On several occasions he has refrained from passing
judgment, which is a good thing. But he has succumbed to the temptation at times and these are the `fault-lines' of the book. For example, writing about the destruction of the Babri mosque, he gravely and exaggeratedly observes: ``As each stone of the Babri Masjid was torn apart by saffron-clad members of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, India's claims for being a secular democracy were reduced to rubble.'' Reduced to rubble?! The destruction was a shameful act and did deal a blow to the nation's secular credentials. But it was an aberration and the country has since recovered from that nightmare. Only politicians talk of it now; for the common citizen it has become a non-issue.
Alter's misplaced judgment is evident from his comments on the reaction of an audience viewing the popular Hindi film Border at a Delhi cinema hall. He says: ``The film made a conscious effort to depict solidarity between the Hindu and Sikh soldiers in the face of a Muslim threat.'' This is ridiculous. The solidarity displayed was not in the face of a Muslim threat but in the face of a Pakistani threat. And the solidarity depicted was between two Indian soldiers and not between two non-Muslim communities. The author repeats the charge later on: ``The enemy were clearly the Muslims and through the deceptive magic of the cinematographer's lens those boundary markers which stood along the borders were transformed into national shrines, commemorating the dead.'' Surely, Alter does not propose the theory that the Indian army is really targeting the Muslim community when it ranges against Pakistan's army.
As Alters points out with instances, officialdom is one of the biggest culprits in spreading discontent. Not just in the interiors of their respective countries, even on the borders the petty officials are as active to create problems for the innocent citizen who wishes to cross over to meet his relative. Perfectly law-abiding people are manhandled, harassed, humiliated and fleeced by the plethora of officials belonging to the customs etc., before they can cross over. Such
behavior naturally causes resentment.
The book reflects, through interactions with the people the author meets on the journey, on the tragedy of Partition. The questions that come uppermost in the mind, is: Was Partition worth the price both the peoples paid for it? Has it served the purpose and are things now hunky dory? Finally, will the scars of Partition ever heal or is it a festering wound that will never heal, remaining a sore in some form or the other? These are questions that no book can answer. Fifty years or a hundred years down the line, when the memory of Partition will be dim, very dim indeed, can then a new beginning be made?
A hundred years from now, another Amritsar to Lahore may be written. An account that will commemorate the friendship and camaraderie of the peoples of India and Pakistan. We may not be around then. But it's a dream worth living in now.
–
Rajesh
Singh
March 29, 2001
Amritsar to Lahore is
published by Penguin Books and is priced at Rs.250.
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